Clinical training

The Echocardiography Fellowship includes clinical training in transthoracic echocardiography, stress echocardiography, transesophageal echocardiography (including 3-D), interventional echocardiography, and intraoperative echocardiography. You are encouraged to pursue echo-related research during the fellowship and will be provided ample opportunities, including time, to design and participate in prospective and retrospective studies.

Rotation schedule

A typical schedule in the Echocardiography Fellowship includes:

• Four days a week, you will be training in procedures in the Echocardiography Laboratory. You are expected to perform an echocardiographic examination on each patient coming to the Echocardiography Laboratory. You are expected to interpret the results of the procedure and enter these results into a computer format.
• One day a week, you are expected to pursue clinical research in the area of echocardiography. The Echocardiography Laboratory at Mayo Clinic has a large database, which has produced extensive publications under the guidance of Patricia Pellikka, M.D., director of the Echocardiography Laboratory.

Call frequency

The fellowship call schedule is different for each rotation. Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science follows the recommendations of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Research training

You are required to conduct some type of scholarly activity during the fellowship. Research can be in the form of a chart review, a case report, or an original investigation.

Didactic training

Clinical conferences, seminars, small discussion groups, journal clubs, and one-on-one instruction are integral parts of this fellowship. Daily noon conferences cover a wide variety of topics.

Evaluation

To ensure that you acquire adequate knowledge and develop appropriate technical skills, individual performance is monitored carefully during the course of the program. You will be evaluated formally by supervising faculty members after each clinical rotation and meet with the program director to review these evaluations.

This is accomplished through the MedHub electronic process available 24/7 from any Mayo Clinic workstation or via remote access. MedHub is linked to the six core competencies identified by the ACGME (Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, Interpersonal and Communication Skills, Professionalism, Practice-Based Learning and Improvement, and Systems-Based Practice).

Completed faculty evaluations are reviewed by the program director and are immediately available to you electronically in the MedHub system. You also have an opportunity to complete an evaluation of faculty after each rotation, as well as an evaluation of the program on an annual basis to ensure that your educational needs are being met.